The Many Hats of a School Librarian

by Phil Bildner Illustrated by John Holyfield This is a book that is based on a man, James Banning, who was the first African American man to fly a plane across the United States.  He asked people who helped him along the way to sign the tip of the airplane wings so everyone who helped could really be a part of the journey.  James and his co-pilot, Thomas Allen, run into some trouble but eventually make it to their destination.  The pictures are beautiful, and the story is full of inspiration and hope.  If they can do what they set their mind out to do, so can I!

by Tim Green If you understand or like football you will love this book!!  I enjoyed reading this because the story was pretty good, though all of the descriptions of complex football plays went over my head.  If you love to dream about meeting football players and being part of a professional team, you will be in your happy land reading this book.

by Gordon Korman I liked this book, but I wasn't sure about it when I read the description if it would be ok for my Elementary students.  It's about three boys that found themselves in Juvenile Detention for committing major crimes.  A man who wants to start a program to help these young men turn their lives around, takes them from their jails and brings them to an apartment in New York City to live with him.  The boys each have very different ideas of why they have made bad choices, and this book helps to share the struggles that go on in their heads.  This book really shows that every kids want to do well for themselves, sometimes, they just don't know how.  I think that 6th grade students could read this book and pull out the morals of the story and enjoy the reading at the same time.